


Between the Phoenix and the Surgeon of Death

by PhoenixLuna



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:29:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22266409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixLuna/pseuds/PhoenixLuna
Summary: What happened? Tiara woke up in another world she knew well. She had landed in the world of One Piece, her absolute favourite manga and immediately met a famous pirate crew. Did she dream all this or was it reality?
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Original Character(s), Trafalgar D. Water Law/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [traffyluffy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/traffyluffy/gifts).



> My English isn't very good because it's not my mother tongue. I will still give my best. Hope you like it.
> 
> You can also find this story on wattpad.

Everything around me was black. Where am I? What had happened? I heard voices but didn't understand what they were saying. Only slowly the voices became clearer and I could understand something. "Is she still alive?" "Yes" "Why is she alone here?" "How should I know?" "We'll take her to the ship so the doc can take a look at her." Why did the voices sound so familiar to me? Why ship? Up to the sea it was approx 800-900 km from my home. I noticed how someone took me up and strangely enough I felt no fear. Why was that so? They were strangers. To be exactly strange men according to the voices to judge. So why didn't I feel any fear although they just took me somewhere. I tried to open my eyes and it worked. "I think she is waking up." said one of the voices. My gaze went up as I finally wanted to know who my wearer was who had stopped after this statement. Two radiating blue eyes, which reminded one of the sea, looked at me. I recognized the person immediately. It was Marco! Marco the Phoenix, one of my favourite characters from One Piece. That couldn't be. He was a fictional character, created by a genius. So either I just have the best dream in the world or I'm dead. "I think I'm dead, I see an angel." it slipped out. God when will I ever learn it? Do not speak thoughts out loud! Unfortunately this often happens to me. "I would rather say pineapple instead of angel." it came laughing from the left. There stood Ace! And as if that wasn't already confusing enough, Thatch and Izou also pushed themselves into my field of vision. "He can fly but he is more of a flaming chicken and definitely no angel." said Thatch. If Marco wouldn't carry me and I would feel better I would have punched both Ace and Thatch. Somehow I always found it stupid to name Marco with that strange nicknames like pinapple or chicken. It was surely because he and the surgeon of death Trafalgar Law were ranked number 1 of my favorite characters at One Piece. I closed my eyes again and grabbed my forehead with my left hand as my head hurt extremely. 

So in thoughts sunk I did not noticed that Marco had started to move again. I only noticed it when I opened my eyes again and we were on the Moby Dick. "My son whom have you brought there" I heard a deep voice. My son? Wait, that meant Whitebeard was asking. "We found her unconscious on the island. She woke up a short time later but has not told us yet who she is. She seems a little confused." Marco reported and then told an unknown man to get the doc on deck. "Confused is exactly what she is! She called Marco an angel." came laughing from the fire fist. Now the emperor looked slightly irritated at Marco and me. Meanwhile all commanders as well as many crew members unknown to me had gathered around us and stared at me, which was very unpleasant for me. I remained mute, which was probably better for the beginning because the situation overtaxed me a bit too much. "What is your name my child?" Whitebeard asked me now directly. Well great and what now? I looked for the eye contact with Marco and looked at him slightly pleadingly. Please let him understand that I cannot cope with the situation. Too many people were looking at me at once. I just didn't like being the center of attention. The last time such a similar situation ended in a panic attack. Please don't let it get that far. "I think it's better if the doc examines her first and we ask her questions later." Marco said and looked at his captain, who nodded approvingly after a short hesitation. A short time later the doc finally arrived on deck and said that he would like to examine me more closely in the infirmary. So Marco carried me to the infirmary. 

"Thank you." I whispered quietly as we walked through the many identical corridors. Marco looked me straight in the eyes and smiled slightly. So he had understood it. "Will you tell me your name?" he asked. "Tiara" I answered briefly. "I'm Marco but I think you already noticed that." he gave me a slight grin what made me smile slightly. Arriving at the infirmary, he laid me on one of the beds in there. The doc began his examinations and took blood from me. Marco stayed in the room the whole time for which I was grateful to him. Strictly speaking, he was a stranger to me, just like the others, but he radiated such peace and quiet, which did me good. Nevertheless I was still confused. What was that here? A dream or reality? How did I get here? Would I be able to go back to my world if this was real after all? Was I in a coma and dreaming all this? Or was I maybe even dead in the end and this world here, the world of One Piece, something like paradise? Too many questions at once buzzed around in my head. "Here this should help against your headache." said the doc and gave me a tablet and a glass of water. Quickly I took these and asked if I could go. So far everything was fine with me, except for the headache. 

After I entered the hall I stopped. Why did everything look so alike here? From which direction had we come? I should have been more careful earlier and not just stared at Marco. "Come I bring you to the galley first so that you can eat something. Then we go on deck again. Pops surely has some questions for you." Marco explained and set himself in motion but I stopped. Just the thought of having to get out where everyone was staring at me made me freeze. "What's the matter?" he asked when he noticed that I had stopped. "I can't do that. I can't talk when so many people stare at me. I hate to be the center of attention and get panic attacks every now and then when it gets too much for me." I explained to him. "I noticed that. Don't worry, I'll make sure that later only pops and I are present during the conversation. But you have to understand that we have to know who you are." came from Marco and I nodded. I knew what he meant. They had to make sure I wasn't someone from the Navy or something like that. "Thank you. Ace and Thatch can also be there. Just not so many." I answer again without thinking. Marco looked at me irritated, but was silent. I am so stupid why did I said that? Neither of the two had introduced themselves to me or someone had mentioned their names and yet I knew them. It was clear to me that this must have seemed strange or suspicious to him.


	2. Chapter 2

After I ate, Marco and I went on deck. But before that I refilled my cup with coffee and took it with me. Yes, I loved coffee, my friends always say I'm addicted to it. When I arrived on deck I immediately felt uncomfortable again. All those people buzzing around. In the galley Marco and I were alone, I liked that more. The closer we got to the emperor the more nervous I became. "Don't worry, nobody here will hurt you." Marco tried to calm me down. If I'm honest I wasn't even afraid of that. I knew the Whitebeard pirates did not belong to the "bad guys". It's more the fact that I still don't know if this is just a dream or reality that makes me nervous and the reaction of the captain and his commanders when I tell them that I come from another world. Should I even mention that? Should I tell them everything in the beginning or wait and see what happens? "You drink this black poison, too?" Ace asked a little disgusted and ripped me out of my thoughts. So lost in thought I didn't even notice that we were already standing in front of Whitebeard. Marco had kept his word because only Ace and Thatch stood next to him, all the others he had sent away. "I wouldn't survive without coffee." I gave Ace the answer after looking at him confused for a moment. It was a strange feeling that he was standing in front of me when I know he died in the Marine Ford Arc. But I should not think about it now or I'll start crying again. I saw the episode with his death only once. A part of my friends could understand that but another part found it ridiculous to cry because of a fictitious person. "What is your name?" Thatch wanted to know. "My name is Tiara and I am 23 years old." he got as an answer. Whitebeard wanted to know where I came from and why I was alone on this probably uninhabited island. I decided not to mention that I didn't come from this world. "I don't know. The only thing I remember is that I was on my way to a friend, I think. After that everything is black until I woke up and saw the blue eyes of Marco. I can't tell you how I got to this island or how long I was there before your commanders found me." I explained to him. He then decided that I could stay on board until the next island, which is about 2 to 3 weeks away, and then decide later what to do next. "Where should I sleep in that time?" I asked. "We have a cabin for guests that you can use. If you need anything just contact one of my sons or me." the emperor explained to me. I just nodded.

After the conversation was finished I went to the railing and looked at the sea. My thoughts digressed again. I wondered if I would meet Shanks. He was the emperor I liked the most. "You seem to love the sea." said Ace, who had stood next to me. "Yes very much and most of all I would like to jump in there now to swim a few rounds." I meant and had to grin slightly. "Come with me!" Ace ordered after a while of silence, took my hand and pulled me behind him. Where was he going? He went below deck. "When we found you there was a bag next to you. I just took it with me and brought it to my room. I'm sure it's yours." he just babbled. So we went, well he ran and dragged me behind him, to the commander corridor and stopped in front of a door with a big 2 on it. After he opened it and we entered, I distorted my face a little disgusted. His cabin looked as if a bomb had hit it! But it didn't really surprise me. It's Ace, a D, you can't expect anything but pure chaos. On his bed lay my shoulder bag which luckily was still closed. I only hoped that he didn't look inside, because I always had a One Piece Manga in my bag which I read when I was travelling by bus or train. He gave it to me and I thanked him, turned around and left his room. "Hey where do you want to go?" it came immediately from the fire fist. "I want to go back on deck." I said not telling the truth that I just wanted to get out of his cabin as fast as possible. When I stood in the hallway again, my eyes fell on the door in the directly opposite. The door with a big 1 on it. That was Marcos room! What does it look like inside it? Certainly very neat and clean. "Oh yes, the door there is, by the way, the cabin for our guests." Ace explained to me and pointed to the door to the left of his door. I couldn't do more than a nod. "Come with me now it's time to introduce you to the others. They were also curious who you are but the pineapple on two legs has all sent away." it suddenly came from Ace. He grabbed my hand again and pulled me back. I would have loved to give him a punch on his head but I had to deal with not to fall as fast as he was back on the road. No! Wait a minute! Had he just said the others? No I don't want that! I tried to stop him, told him I didn't want that but it didn't help anything. He was more stubborn than a donkey. Typical for a D, I thought to myself. "What will it be when it is finished?" Ace was asked slightly annoyed. I knew this voice all too well. She belonged to Marco. "You are my saviour!" slipped out of my mouth, took advantage of Ace's confusion with my statement, tore me away from him and fled by Marco's side. "Why rescuer? I didn't do anything to you!" it came from Ace after he had caught himself again. Marco looked at me questioningly and probably waited for an explanation which I gave him. After my explanation I was allowed to go and Ace was ordered to fulfil his duties as commander of the 2nd division. I simply sat down at the railing and took my sketchpad out of my bag which I always had with me as drawing always calmed me down. First I looked at some of the drawings. There were many of Trafalgar Law, I loved to draw him because of his many tattoos. Yes, I definitely had a weakness for tattooed men. Then there were drawings of Marco, Thatch, Ace, Luffy, Shanks and some other characters. I took a pencil and thought about who I could draw and decided on a picture of Ace and Luffy.

I was a little astonished about the fact that they left me in peace but I had also the assumption that there were a certain phoenix who made sure I have a bit time for myself. But when I was almost finished with my drawing someone came to me. "Wow is that awesome! You can draw really well. I am Haruta by the way." said the only woman of the crew. "Why do you sit here all alone? Are you afraid of us?" she simply asked without me having a chance to react to her first statement. "No I am not afraid of you. It was just a little too much for me after I arrived here on board. I am Tiara by the way." I explained to her. "Who is that next to Ace?" Haruta then wanted to know and pointed to my drawing. "That's Luffy. Ace's little brother." I replied, "Ace his brother?" she asked a bit confused rather she shouted. "You have to show that to Ace!" whereupon Thatch interfered in our conversation. "What does she have to show to Ace?" Haruta took my sketchpad and showed this Thatch, who unfortunately began to flip through. "Why did you draw so many pictures of our pineapple? Who is this other guy you always draw half naked? I know I have seen him somewhere before. And why do you draw Shanks?" asked the commander of the 4th division. "That's my secret." I said and took my block out of his hand. He doesn't have to know everything now and how should I explain to him where I knew all these people so well to be able to draw them so exactly. He grinned at me and then added, "I'll get that out of ya! Actually, I just wanted to let you know it's time for dinner." 

So we went to the galley where I sat between Marco and Thatch at the commander's table. Ace sat opposite of me and I wondered how long it would take for him to have one of his typical narcoleptic attack. One after the other the commanders introduced themselves and with everyone I thought yes I know. The food tasted good even if I was not so hungry, after all Marco had given me a little something to eat earlier. "Doesn't it taste good to you? You hardly eat anything." Ace wanted to know. "I'm not as hungry as you are and I don't have a black hole like you either." I replied to him. He had really stowed away a lot in that short time. I knew that he and Luffy were actually always hungry and eat a lot but to experience this live was then again something completely different. When I was about to ask Marco something, there was a bang. My gaze wandered to Ace. He lay with his face in his food and slept. I knew this would happen. With his narcoleptic attacks during the meal it is always only a question of time when it will be happen. "Can I talk to you in private after dinner?" I asked Marco and ignored what happened with Ace. He will wake up immediately anyway and then continue eating. "Stop it! Why are you not a bit surprised about it?" Haruta wanted to know who sat to the left of Ace and pointed to him. "What should surprise me? Ace has narcolepsy so it's normal." I talked about it again without thinking about what I actually said. Now everyone looked at me in a slightly confused way. Did they even know what narcolepsy is? "He has what?" then Vista wanted to know. "He has narcolepsy, which can also be called pathological sleep. Narcolepsy belongs to the group of sleep addictions. They have a sleep-wake regulation disorder and no control over when they get the attacks." I explained. Since I was interested in medicine, I read many books and knew a few things that were sometimes helpful. "So that means it's a disease. Can it be cured?" the doc who was sitting at the table behind Ace wanted to know. "As far as I know, there is a medicine that reduces the attacks but doesn't make them disappear completely. It's a disease that you keep for life, so it's not curable." I answered his question. The commanders looked at me in astonishment. After dinner Marco and I went into his cabin to talk. But it did not go as I expected. As soon as he had closed his door he immediately asked a question that made me freeze. "What are you hiding from us and who are you really?" he asked very seriously and suddenly seemed very threatening. 


	3. Chapter 3

Marco POV

"Who are you gonna sneak in here for? What should you do? Collect information, steal certain documents or important cards? Or an assassination attempt because you wouldn't be taken seriously as weak as you look." he asked calmly. A little too calm for my taste because he seemed very threatening. Marco scared me! Of all people, the person I trusted the most here scared me the most. Was it right to go with them? Yes I liked the Whitebeard pirates, they definitely belonged to my 5 favorite crews, but in the end they were still pirates. "Answer finally!" demanded Marco, came closer and grabbed me roughly by the arm, but I didn't get a word out. I felt tears slowly gathering in my eyes. No not that! Don't cry in front of him. Show him no weakness I thought to myself. Suddenly the door was pushed open and Ace stormed in. Since Marco was distracted by Ace for a brief moment, I took my chance, broke away from him and disappeared from Marco's room. As I passed Ace I whispered a quiet "Thank you Ace" before finding refuge in the cabin assigned to me. It was clear to me that Marco wouldn't give up so easily and would ask me again at the next opportunity but at the moment I was just happy to have got away from him. Whatever Ace wanted, he came just at the right time. First I locked my cabin. For someone like Marco it would be easy to enter but that the door was locked gave me at least a little security. Maybe I should just sleep for a while, the day was crazy enough and who knows maybe this is all just a dream and when the new day has started I wake up in my apartment again.

Ace POV

Together with Haruta and Thatch I played some cards on deck. Haruta told me that Tiara drew a picture of me and Ruffy which was very successful. I had to see that, she had left with Marco earlier because they wanted to talk. They were definitely in his cabin, so I jumped up and ran to this one. Somewhat rudely I pushed the door open and stopped in my movement. Something was wrong here. Why did Tiara look so scared? What happened here? Thatch said earlier that he thinks Tiara loves Marco because she always turns to him and seems to trust him. Tiara suddenly left the room and whispered a "Thank you Ace" as she passed me. Thank you? For what? I looked after her confused, I had noticed that a tear was running down her cheek. "What do you want?" Marco asked me then. "Actually I wanted to ask Tiara something but you better tell me what was going on between you two!" I wanted to know. "Nothing!" it came from him. "Yes of course. Because of nothing she looked totally scared and she cries." I replied. "I only asked her what she was hiding from us. She knew your and Thatch's name although nobody had mentioned your names in front of her. Then she knows what disease you are suffering from. Even the doc didn't know where your attacks came from and she knows it, don't you think it's a little strange? The doc has been out on the seas for a long time and she's just 23 and doesn't seem to have travelled much yet." he explained a little annoyed. "Did you ever think that she might know our names from our wanted posters? It's not like we're unknown. Yes, the other one is a bit strange but maybe she is a doctor or works as a researcher and knows it through it." I tried to find an explanation why Tiara knew these things. I knew what Marco was going for. He certainly assumed that she could be a spy of the Navy but I didn't believe that. I couldn't say exactly why I was so sure but I just had the feeling that she didn't want anything bad for us. "What's the mood here?" Thatch burst into our conversation. "Our vice captain managed to make Tiara cry because he's too suspicious again." I informed Thatch. "You have what?" screamed Thatch. Marco explained the situation to him and Thatch saw things similar to me. "Izou was right. You really didn't notice it, did you?" asked Thatch, but didn't let Marco get a word in and immediately added "Tiara likes you! Even a blind man sees that. She trusts you most of all here. Well, I guess that won't be the case now." Marco seemed confused which was more than rarely the case with our pineapple.   
I left Marcos cabin and knocked on Tiara's cabin but got no answer, but when I wanted to get in I noticed that the door was locked. Now only Thatch can help. I went back to Marcos room, grabbed Thatch and pulled him with me to the guest cabin. "Go on, open the lock. She locked it and doesn't answer my knocking either. I have a strange feeling." I said to him and he went straight to work. After the door was finally open we went into her cabin and found her asleep in bed. "There you have probably a little exaggerated she only sleeps." said Thatch and grinned at me slightly amused. "Do you really think that she has such a firm sleep and didn't realize that I knocked on her door several times loudly?" I went to Tiara and tried to wake her up, but it didn't work out. Thatch noticed this and came to us. "Go on deck and get the doc, he was with pops earlier. I'll take her to the infirmary." he suddenly said very seriously, which is why I looked at him. "Now go ahead. Who knows how much she has taken of it there are at least only 2 pieces left." he became a little louder. I ran off and found the doc on deck next to pops and Marco. "My son what happened?" asked pops. "Doc, you have to come quickly. We can't get Tiara awake and there were some pills next to her. Thatch is already taking her to the infirmary." I explained a little hectically. I didn't miss that Marco looked at me in shock for a moment before he had his usual bored facial expression again. The doc immediately made his way to the infirmary and I followed him. Marco also followed us.


	4. Chapter 4

Marco POV

In the meantime I stood alone in my cabin. Is it true what Thatch said? Should it really be true that Tiara has a crush on me? Why me? She didn't even know me. Wasn't I too old for her? After all, I'm 33, which makes me ten years older than her. What could I offer her? A life as a pirate is all I could offer her. The Marines would put a bounty on her. But even if she has feelings for me, she's still hiding something. Ace may be right that she knew his name from a wanted poster, but knowing what illness he had was still more than strange. 

I went back on deck where I saw the doc standing by Pops and joined them. "We should ask her what her medical expertise is. The information she has about Ace attacks is helpful." the doc said. "Don't you think it's a little strange that she has such knowledge?" I asked the two of them, as I wanted to know how they saw it. "Not necessarily." the Doc replied, adding "You've heard of Trafalgar Law, the surgeon of death. He is also very young and should be about the same age as Tiara. From a medical point of view, he has excellent knowledge where hardly anyone can surpass him. For him, the problem lies more in the human and his much too sadistic nature. They say he loves torturing his patients." Somehow it made sense. Should Ace and Thatch be right after all and I was just too suspicious? Maybe she just had good medical knowledge, like that Trafalgar. 

"What's on your mind, son?" Pops now wanted to know. "I thought it was a little strange that she knew what Ace had and that she knew his name and Thatch's name, even though no one had mentioned them before her. It all just seemed very mysterious to me and I thought that she might be from the Marines or the World Government. I asked her what she was hiding but before she could answer Ace came in and she got away." I told him. "And it seems like I scared her off a little with my questions. Ace said that when she passed him, he saw her crying." I confessed to him. With Pops, I always said anything to him and I didn't want to hide anything. "You're always a little too careful, son. I don't think she's from the Marines or the World Government. She's insecure. Put yourself in her shoes. She wakes up in a place but has no memory of how she got there or what happened to her. Then she was found by pirates and now sails with them. You could see that she feels uncomfortable when there are too many people around her. She doesn't seem to feel uncomfortable with you, though. It seemed that she likes your presence. When you saved her from being dragged behind by Ace, you could clearly see that she was relieved that you helped her. There will certainly be one or two things she hasn't told us yet. She must first find trust in us." he explained his view of the situation. Seen from that side I might have overreacted a bit. She had only been on board with us for a few hours. 

Just when the Doc wanted to say something, Ace came rushing to us very rushed. What's he done now? . "My son, what happened?" Pops asked. "Doc, you got to come quick. We can't wake up Tiara and there were some pills next to her. Thatch is already taking her to the sick bay." he explained a little hectically. Wait a minute, pills and then they can't wake up Tiara? She's not going to? I looked shocked at Ace. It couldn't be. I wasn't so hard on her that she got so scared and hurt herself. The Doc went straight to the infirmary, followed by Ace and me. Pops asked me to go with him because he wanted to know what happened to Tiara. But I would have gone along too. I just had to know what happened. 

When we entered the infirmary Tiara was lying on one of the beds and looked as if she was just sleeping. If you didn't have the information with the pills, you would think that Ace just overdid it. Thatch then gave the Doc a box of pills. "They were on her bedside table. "They're sleeping pills, and the box is almost empty. There's only two left. We don't know how many she took." Thatch explained and the Doc took a closer look at the box of pills. "I don't know these pills, and I've never seen some like this anywhere before. They seem to be very high-dose sleeping pills." said the Doc and then sent us outside. He wanted to be left alone during the treatment.

Ace POV

I didn't understand all that. Why does she do this? Did she suddenly become so afraid of us after Marco's interrogation? "You did a great job, with your constant suspicion." I hissed at the Phoenix. He himself seemed to be lost in thought, not even responding. This waiting is driving me crazy. Why did the doc have to kick us out too? After what felt like an eternity the door to the sick bay finally opened. Thatch, Marco, me and Haruta, who had come to us in the meantime, looked at the Doc questioningly. "Ace, please come in." the Doc then suddenly asked what surprised me very much. Why me? "Why Ace? How is she?" Marco wanted to know but the Doc ignored his questions which was rare because after all Marco is our vice and the Doc should answer him. "Ace come now!" ordered Doc and I sat down in motion and went inside.

Inside I saw that Tiara was awake but a little dazed as I found. "She's as stubborn as you are. Under no conditions does she want to stay in the infirmary. I told her that I think it would be a bad idea if she leaves now but I can't force her to stay because she is not a crew member. That's why I told her that she can leave but someone has to take her to her cabin and stay with her. After that she only said that I should only fetch you and no one else and that I should not talk to anyone about what we have discussed here. From now on you are responsible for her. Have fun with the stubborn one." the Doc explained. I looked at her asking but Tiara remained silent. "Are you okay?" I asked and sat down next to her. Maybe she will answer if you talk to her directly. "Yes, everything is fine. Can we please go then?" she just wanted to know and tried to get up. "What had I said? You shall not walk alone, you are still too weak for that!" it came rebuking from the Doc. So I picked her up. When I entered the hall I was immediately stopped by Marco. "What are you doing? Why are you taking her away from the infirmary? Does the Doc know?" Marco immediately asked his questions. I briefly explained to the others what the Doc had explained to me and then I simply left. Haruta followed me and Marco went together with Thatch to the Doc. Marco wanted to know from the Doc how Tiara is doing because he has to report to Pops.

Tiara POV 

God there you just want to sleep in peace and they think you want to hurt yourself. Meanwhile Ace had brought me back to the guest cabin and put me on the bed. Unfortunately he did not want to leave the room and followed the instruction of the Doc that someone should stay with me. As if I need a babysitter. I sat down and took my block. If I am already condemned to stay in bed then I can also use the time to draw a little. With my back against the wall and the block on my thighs I thought about who I could draw. That Ace was here and staring at me I just ignored. Luckily I was used to hiding my environment completely when I was drawing. This time I decided to draw Corazon. He was one of my favourite characters. Without him Law would not be alive anymore. Corazon did everything to save Law and lost his life.

Eventually I was interrupted by Ace. "Why did you do that? Did Marco's interrogation scare you?" he wanted to know. "As if I'd get hurt over some guy." I told him. "Maybe the moment Marco came to me in such a threatening way, I was really afraid of him. It was just strange that he was first so nice and then suddenly so threatening. But because of him I would certainly not end my life. You're not really in the right frame of mind to even think that. Instead of turning on your brain and thinking that I only took the pill to sleep better. No, why should we assume the worst?" I got upset and saw Ace looking at me in amazement. "Couldn't Ruffy have found me? With him it wouldn't be so complicated, just fun," I added. At least he wouldn't ask a lot of questions and just want to have fun. "Ruffy." Ace just said, looking at me with a weird grin.

"Now it comes back to me. I wanted to see you earlier because Haruta said you drew a picture of Ruffy and me. Can I see that?" said Ace and I was astonished that he seemed to have completely forgotten our previous topic. But if I am honest I was quite happy with it. I just nodded and separated the picture of the brothers from my block. "If you want you can keep it." I said and handed him the drawing. "Are you serious?" he asked in amazement and I just nodded. "This looks great and I can really keep it?" "Yes." I said. "It's not the only drawing I have of the two of you." I said and showed him some other drawings. I was a little surprised that he didn't even ask me how I knew Ruffy in the first place. "Who is that guy with the tattoos?" Ace asked curiously. "That's Trafalgar Law. He's also known as the surgeon of death. He's from the North Blue and he's the captain of the Heart Pirates." I answered his question. "You seem to enjoy drawing our flaming chicken, too." Ace said, looking at me with a grin. "Who do you think is better? Marco or this Trafalgar? They are by far the two most represented among your drawings." he wanted to know. Great, what do I answer now? Actually, I like them both a lot. "I don't know. I like them both a lot but I think I would choose Law. I like his tattoos and his style." "Too bad it's not Marco." Ace muttered, which surprised me. Why 'too bad'?

I didn't have time to think about it for a long time because the next moment the door opened and Thatch came in. I welcomed him with a slightly grumpy look, because I hated it when someone just walked in without knocking. I may be a stranger here and Moby is their home but this cabin is the room I was assigned so he could knock if he wanted to come in. "I made you some tea. Doc says you should drink a lot." he informed me, put the tea on the nightstand and looked at Ace who was still sitting next to me on the bed looking at my drawings. "How are you?" Thatch asked after a short time of silence. "Quite well so far. I only hate it when people interrupt my sleep." I answered him. Yes, I was still a little angry about that. What was so bad about taking a pill? I took one every night so that I could sleep through the night, because for about 6 months I had nightmares that kept me awake. Because of the pills I took for about 2-3 weeks now I could at least sleep through. "Can't you understand the effect it had on us when we found you? You were lying in bed and didn't wake up. Then we saw the pills next to you and didn't know how many you had taken. You have to consider that this was all after Marco had pressed you and probably scared you. It is then understandable that one comes on such thoughts or not?" he wanted to know. "I will tell you this only once. Because of a guy I would certainly not do anything to myself and because of one I only know for a few hours I would not do anything at all. Did you even consider for a second that I took the pill to help me sleep through the night? To just get through a night without having these damn nightmares." I replied and faltered. I wasn't going to tell them about my nightmares. No one but my best friend knew about them, and it was only because he had once heard me wake up screaming after one of these dreams. Thatch kept silent, which surprised me a little. I had assumed he would ask what kind of nightmares I have but no he kept silent and left again.

I sat with Ace for a while and he told me about his adventures until he had one of his attacks. That was my chance, I thought. With Ace asleep, I could finally get out of this cabin. I wanted to go out on deck and get some fresh air. I couldn't sleep anyway, I had too many things on my mind. Sleeping would only have been possible if I still had my pills, but they had been taken away from me, which would mean that the next few nights would be more likely with little or no sleep for me. When I arrived on deck everything was quiet and nobody was to be seen anymore. Well, it was the middle of the night and except for the night watch nobody will be awake here anymore. I went straight to the railing and listened to the sea. Where exactly was Moby on the grandline right now? Were we even in the New World? But that would mean I wouldn't run into Ruffy or Law. Why can't I remember what happened? Why did I end up in this world? I was torn from my thoughts by footsteps that approached me. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your cabin, lying in bed? The doc said you shouldn't be walking around, you should be resting. Where's Ace? He's supposed to be watching you, right?" Marco immediately asked his questions. I had not yet turned around to him, I could tell by his voice that it was him. I did not give him an answer to any of his questions. I simply ignored him and went back below deck. It may be that my behaviour was not very nice at that moment but I just did not feel like talking to him.

Back in my cabin I just lay down with Ace who was still lying on my bed. Sleeping would be good for sure now but how would that work? I just could not relax. Too many questions were buzzing in my head and Ace's snoring was annoying too. As if all this wasn't enough, I felt guilty too. My behaviour towards Marco on deck earlier was more than off. In his voice you could hear a slight concern when he wanted to know why I was there and not lying in bed as the doc told me to. Why did I overreact so much? Yes he had frightened me but it was actually normal that he wanted to know who I was. I'm sure he was just trying to protect the crew, his family. Why was it so hard to understand him? First he was nice and helped me, then he was suddenly so threatening and frightened me and now he seemed to be worried. How can you put all this into perspective? His behaviour fluctuated faster and worse than with a pregnant woman. It did not help to just think about it. I got up and went to his cabin. It would be best if I just apologized to him. When I stood in front of his door I knocked, but received no answer. Also to my second knocking Marco did not react. Was he perhaps already sleeping? So should I risk to wake him up or should I better postpone all this until tomorrow? I thought for a moment before I simply entered his cabin. If I already have the courage to go to him then I will certainly not back down now. And what could he do? He couldn't do more than throw me out of his cabin, could he?


	5. Chapter 5

Marco POV

After Ace left with Tiara I entered the infirmary to talk to the Doc. Thatch followed me. "Ah Thatch that's a good thing, can you please make an herbal tea for Tiara and bring it to her. She should be drinking lots of it now." the Doc asked him and Thatch went straight to the kitchen. "Why did Ace take her away, wouldn't it be better if she stayed here and how is she?" I wanted to know from him immediately. I noticed that she looked a little dazed when Ace took her away. "She didn't want to stay in the infirmary. She could be related to Ace, stubborn as she is. She's doing well so far and should be back in shape by the end of the day tomorrow. I told her not to run around alone and stay in bed. That's what I told Ace and told him that he was responsible for keeping her in bed. Since she is a guest I could not force her to stay here in the infirmary. Luckily she had only taken one pill." he told me. There was something wrong. "Are you sure it was only one? Thatch and Ace couldn't wake her up, that isn't normal if she only took one." I asked again. "With normal sleeping pills they would have woken her up, but not with these." he started and reached for the pack. "These are very high doses, so it's no wonder Thatch and Ace couldn't wake her up right away, even though it was only one." he added. "Did she say anything about why she took them or where she got them?" I asked the doc, but he said no. After the conversation with the Doc I went immediately to Pops cabin and told him everything I knew. Before I left Pop's cabin he said that he would try to talk to Tiara himself tomorrow to see if we could get some of her memories back. My way after that was not directly into my cabin but on deck. 

I wanted to do one last check before I go to sleep when I discovered Tiara at the railing. What was she doing here? The Doc told her not to walk around and there was no trace of Ace, who should take care of her and was responsible for her. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your cabin, lying in bed? Doc said you shouldn't be walking around. You should be resting. Where's Ace, he's supposed to be watching you?" I asked her after I arrived at her place. But I did not get an answer from her. She just turned around and went back below deck without looking at me. Had I really scared her so much that she doesn't even look at me or talk to me anymore? Since I wanted to make sure that she lay down again I followed her to the guest cabin. Tiara went into the cabin and slammed the door in my face. I stayed in front of the door for a while, not sure if I should go in and try to talk to her again or if I should just go into my cabin. "Are you all right, Marco?" Thatch asked and I couldn't think of anything else. I just nodded in response. "It didn't look like you are okay." Thatch said.

I went into my cabin and he followed me, so I told him about the situation on deck and that Tiara seems to ignore me completely now. "Are you serious, Marco? You immediately bombarded her with questions again instead of apologizing for going a little too far in your last conversation? Well, I wouldn't want to talk to you then either." Thatch told me his view of things. That I had to talk to her about the thing in my cabin was clear to me, but how if she ignores me and flees from me? I didn't know what to do for it yet but I'll think of something. "You are already so lost in thought again. One thing that's very rarely from you." Thatch stated. "I was talking to Tiara earlier. She said she took the pill to keep her from having nightmares. Something seems to be bothering her so much that she prefer to take those pills to be able to sleep through the night. But since she had given that info away unintentionally I didn't ask what kind of nightmares she has." he explained to me briefly and then said goodbye. After Thatch was gone I undressed and lay down in bed. Sleeping was not possible now. All the time I had to think about Tiara. She was in my head the whole time. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I was sure she was hiding something and I wanted to know what. The thing that Thatch told me wouldn't let go of me either. I wonder what kind of nightmares she has. What had she experienced that made her have such bad dreams or memories that haunted her, that she took such high doses of pills to suppress them? But to learn all this I had to win back her trust. A quiet "Marco" tore me out of my thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

Thatch POV

*next morning*

Together with Izou and Haruta I was on deck with pops. We talked about what might have happened to Tiara. Neither of us could really explain how she got on this uninhabited island. I kept asking myself why she had drawn Shanks and how she knew Ace's little brother. Maybe she was friends with him? She must have had some kind of contact with him, because she knew that they were brothers. But since they were not really brothers, so they didn't have the same name and it wasn't easy to know that they saw each other as brothers, the little one must have told her that. Ace didn't know her so she couldn't know it from him. And then there was the guy she usually only drew topless. What kind of relationship did she have with him? I was about to ask Haruta for her opinion on this since she had seen the drawings as well when Ace came running frantically. "Have you seen Tiara?" he immediately asked. "Shouldn't she lie in bed or you make sure she lies in it and doesn't leave her cabin?" I wanted to know from him. "Well, the thing is, when I woke up she was gone. Since she loves the sea, I thought maybe she went on deck to watch it." he told us. Now, that can't be true. "I knew he couldn't take care of her." Haruta laughed and received an offended look from our firefist. "Please my children search her and bring her to me, if she is all right, otherwise please bring her to the Doc first." Pops gave us the order. Where could she be? "When did you last saw her?" I asked Ace. "Where you brought her the tea. We talked a little bit more and then I fell asleep." he said. "Let's have a look in the infirmary and the galley first. Maybe she wasn't feeling well and wanted to see the doc or was hungry." I told him and we split up. I sent Ace to the infirmary and I went to the galley. She wasn't in the galley or in the kitchen and none of the people in the galley had seen her. When I left the galley I met Ace again who told me that she was not in the infirmary either. "I'll check the training rooms and then I'll check the deck again." he informed me and disappeared.

No, she won't be in any of the training rooms. She didn't even know where they were. On the way to her cabin, because I wanted to see if she was back in her cabin, I thought about which places she knew. There were not so many, because she only came on board yesterday. The deck was clear as she spent most of her time there yesterday, then there was the infirmary and the galley where she wasn't and her and Marco's cabin. Wait a minute Marco's cabin, of course. But should that be true? Why would she be with him? Last night before we went to bed he said she ignored him. Besides, there was the incident with him, so she's unlikely to go to him. But I noticed that I hadn't seen our little bird anywhere today and normally Marco was one of the first to wake up. I just decided to have a look. Even if she wasn't with him, he could help us with the search. When I entered his room I was quite amazed. Tiara was in bed with Marco. What did it mean? What else had happened that night? Marco said that she ignored him just before we went to bed. So why are the two of them cuddled up so close together in his bed? She was lying on the side with her back to Marco, who had apparently pulled her towards him and he had put his arm around her to protect her. Not even a piece of paper would fit between them. Because it was rare enough that Marco gets a lot of sleep I decided not to wake them up and to go back to Pops to tell him that I had found Tiara.

On the way to the deck I wondered about what I had just seen. Marco was not one of those people who was looking for a woman on the islands where we moored to have some fun. To be honest, I have only seen him with one woman for as long as I have known him and never again. That Marco lets the girl get so close to him is amazing. After all, she is a stranger to us and Marco normally doesn't let anyone sleep in bis room, not even on the floor. Ace, Izou, Jozu and I are usually the only ones who are allowed to enter his room. "No one has seen her? Did you look everywhere? I have to find her before Marco finds out I lost Tiara." I heard Ace whining as I stepped onto the deck. "Where is Marco anyway?" Izou then asked the others. I guess that was my cue, I thought and I had to grin. "I guess you're out of luck, Ace. Marco already knows that you didn't take care of Tiara properly." I said and everyone looked at me. "Whaaaaaat? Damn, how come the pineapple knows that already?" Ace despaired as he thought that he would get a punishment from Marco. "Where's our little bird? I haven't seen him today." Haruta asked. "When I was in his cabin he was still in bed sleeping." I answered her. "If he's still sleeping, how could he know that Ace didn't take care of Tiara and we can't find her?" Izou asked and looked at me a little confused. "That's easily explained. I found her ..." but I didn't get any further because I was interrupted by Ace. "You found her? Where is she? Why didn't you bring her?" he bombarded me with his questions, too.

Now Pops also joined in, who had only silently followed our conversation so far. "Quiet, Ace! Where did you find her, son? And is she okay?" "Yes, she's fine. She's asleep in Marco's arm." I answered his questions. The others looked at me in shock. "Ha ha, good joke, and now the truth." Izou said. "This is the truth. I was surprised myself. When I noticed that I had not seen Marco today I went to his cabin to see what was wrong with him and to tell him that we were looking for Tiara. But when I entered his room I saw them lying in his bed." I explained to him. "You can look for yourself if you don't believe me." I added. Izou just nodded and went off. Haruta and Ace followed him. They're not really going to check now, are they? But I could understand them somehow. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't believe it either. Since Marco never shows interest in a woman or lets one near him the situation is something very rare. "So Marco let Tiara sleep at his place." said Pops and pulled me out of my thoughts. "Yes, I find it strange. He was so strange even before we went to sleep. Totally lost in thought that he didn't understand anything anymore." I explained. "It's been ten years now. Maybe she will work a miracle and Marco can finally leave everything behind him and forget about it." Pops said thoughtfully. True, the incident was already 10 years ago but Marco could never really get over it.  
  


Tiara POV

Some voices woke me up. When I opened my eyes, I was immediately greeted by 3 wide grinning faces belonging to Ace, Haruta and Izou. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you overboard right away for waking me up." I asked the three slightly irritated. Can't they let me sleep in peace? "I don't think you're in a position to throw us overboard because you're just a guest." Izou replied to me and didn't lose a second of his grin. "Maybe she doesn't, but I do." I heard Marco's voice next to me. "What are you doing here?" Marco wanted to know. When he asked, he was calm. Too calm. You could see that the three commanders were just realizing that they were in trouble, because the smiles disappeared from their faces. But Ace quickly found his grin again. "We just wanted to see if it was true that you were cuddling together." answered Ace Marco's question. "Oh, look at that Tiara turning all red. Did we interrupt something between you two?" Haruta laughed now. "Out!" Marco said in a tone that didn't allow any argument. What surprised me a little bit was that the three of them really disappeared. "Sorry, they are annoying sometimes. Everything okay with you?" Marco asked me and I just nodded. My thoughts drifted to what had happened last night.

*Flashback*

After Marco didn't react to my knocking I just went into his cabin. The moonlight shining through the porthole made it easy to find your way around the room. I went to his bed and looked at him. He had not noticed me yet, nor could I leave without him knowing I was in here without his permission. But I had to sort this out. So I gathered up all my courage and quietly said "Marco". Why I said it quietly I didn't know myself. Had I hoped that he wouldn't notice and then I could say that I had tried? Suddenly I was grabbed by the wrist, pulled down and pressed onto the mattress. Marco who was kneeling over me realized only after a while who had just woken him up. "Tiara?" he asked confused but still held me tight. "I... I... I'm sorry... I knocked, but you didn't answer. I, um, I wanted to talk to you." I stammered. Great, I sound like a shy little schoolgirl trying to tell her crush she loves him. Fucking focus, Tiara. Slowly he let go of me and sat down next to me. "What do you want to talk about at this hour? Doc said you should rest." he wanted to know. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." I gave a little shyly of myself. "You didn't wake me up. I was just a little preoccupied." he explained. "Umm I ..." I started and I didn't really know what to say. "I wanted to ask if I could sleep with you. Umm I mean sleeping next to you." I told him after a short break. Surprised and slightly irritated he looked at me. Okay, first I ignored him on deck and now I want to sleep with him - no wonder he is confused. "Well, actually I didn't come for that, at least not in the first place. I wanted to apologize to you for ignoring you earlier, that was wrong of me. But this is all so strange to me and somehow I can't fall asleep with Ace in the room. I'm just a little overwhelmed by the whole situation. Not knowing what happened, why I was on that island, it's all a bit much." I gave him a more detailed explanation of why I just walk into his room in the middle of the night. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have pushed you like that. But I just want to protect my family and that's why I went too far." Marco apologized to me which surprised me very much. "I know that you just wanted to protect them all and that's what I like about you. It would have surprised me more if you hadn't tried to get something more out of me. It wasn't the questions you asked that made me uncomfortable, but rather the way you asked them. Your behaviour had changed from nice to threatening within seconds which just scared me a little at that moment. Please give me some time to get used to the situation and I will answer all your questions." I told him and looked him in the eyes. His eyes were so beautiful. This blue reminds you of the sea. 

"We should get some sleep. The day was exhausting enough for you and the Doc said you need a lot of rest." said Marco and pulled me out of my thoughts. "I do not mind if you sleep here. So I can at least make sure that you really rest and don't go back on deck." Marco said and lay down. After a short hesitation if this was really the right decision to sleep next to him I lay down too. I turned to the side with my back to him. "Sleep well and thanks Marco." I whispered. It felt strange lying next to him. I still didn't understand if all this was real or just a dream. Marco seemed to sense how restless I was because after a while he pulled me to him and put his arm around me as if he wanted to protect me. The blue flames of his phoenix flamed up briefly, which fascinated me and actually calmed me down. "Sleep tight Tiara." Marco whispered before I finally fell asleep.

*Flashback End*

"I take a quick shower. You wait here, please. As soon as I'm done, we'll go to the doc and get you checked again, so we can see if everything's okay." Marco told me and got up. Why did he have to bring up the shower? Thanks to my little too good imagination I now imagined him standing in the shower.


	7. Chapter 7

Tiara POV.

I watched Marco as he went into the bathroom and I noticed 3 scars on his back. I wonder where they came from. Normally he should not be able to be wounded thanks to his blue flames. So did he get the scars before he ate the devil's fruit? Unfortunately, nothing is known about his past. Since I was supposed to sit here, even if I really wanted to have a look into the bathroom to see him naked, I thought about whether I should tell him the whole truth. But would he believe me? I was afraid if I was honest, that nobody would believe me that I came from another world. So absorbed in my thoughts I did not notice how Marco had already left the bathroom. "Everything ok with you? You're getting a little absent." he asked and I looked at him. Marco was standing in front of me with a towel around his waist and looked at me questioningly. I noticed how I blushed. Damn, why is he doing this to me? Ok I had seen him before when he went into the bathroom wearing only boxer shorts and also at night he only had his boxers on when he slept but this is something completely different now. But I couldn't get more than one nod. Did he do it on purpose or had he just forgotten that I was in his cabin? "Is really everything ok with you, you suddenly look so red?" Marco asked again. "Could you please put some clothes on?" I asked him when I finally found my voice again and tried not to stare at him. He just laughed, went to his closet and got dressed while I turned around and looked away. "You can look I'm dressed now. Sorry I'm not used to having someone in my cabin when I get out of the shower." he told me after a few minutes. But you could still hear clearly that my reaction amused him. "While we are on the subject. Do you think I could borrow a few things? I don't have anything and I'd like to take a shower and change my clothes." I asked him and smiled at him slightly shyly. He went to his closet and looked for something. "Here you can have these, I've never worn them before." said Marco and threw a boxer shorts with hearts on them to me and one of his shirts, which will probably be too big for me but better than nothing. "Why do you have such a thing?" I wanted to know from him and held the boxers up, but I couldn't stop laughing for the best of my ability. "Thatch and Ace gave them to me once to annoy me. Now all that's missing are some pants. Mine are probably too big for you, though. You better go take a shower and I'll ask Haruta if she can lend you some pants. There is a fresh towel in the bathroom which you can take." he told me and went to the door.

  
Marco POV.

My way led me on deck as I suspected Haruta was there. It was kind of cute how Tiara just turned red when she saw me with the towel around my waist. But my thoughts turned to what had happened that night. It has never happened before that my devil fruit powers had acted on their own but last night this was the case. After I had pulled Tiara to me and put my arm around her, my blue flames appeared on my arm without me wanting them to. But at least as unexpected was Tiara's reaction to the flames. Instead of panicking or asking what the flames were, she calmed down with my flames, relaxed and fell asleep quickly. Arriving on deck, everyone looked at me a little strangely. Even Pops looked at me with a questioning look. "Haruta come here!" I shouted when I saw her. She flinched noticeably, but still came to me immediately. "What's up Marco?" she wanted to know. I just said that she should come along and went back inside the ship. "We didn't want to disturb you. Don't take everything so seriously." she just started talking. "Let's talk about how you just came into my cabin later. But now it's about Tiara. Can you lend her some pants?" I explained what I wanted from her. "No problem. Where is she right now? I'll just bring her some things." Haruta asked. "She's taking a shower in my bathroom. Get the things and then bring them to her." I replied and Haruta quickly disappeared into her cabin. I went to my cabin to wait for her. But after I entered it, I stood there speechless. In front of me, Tiara stood only wrapped in a towel. I really missed the words and I couldn't help but stare at her. Tiara was at least as surprised by the situation we were in as I was. She couldn't get a word out either and just looked me straight in the eyes and blushed. After some time only a short and quiet "Marco" came over her lips when suddenly the door was opened.


	8. Chapter 8

Tiara POV.

After I finished showering I left the bathroom. If I had known that Marco had came into the room at the same time I left the bath I would have stayed in. Great why do I always have to go through all these embarrassing situations? It made me nervous, damn nervous the way he looked at me. I was paralyzed, couldn't move and couldn't say anything. Fortunately the towel was big enough to cover everything well. When he looked at my upper arm where he had grabbed me so roughly yesterday and now there was a clear mark on it I wanted to say something but more than a quiet 'Marco' didn't come over my lips. Suddenly the door was opened with a loud bang and Haruta came in, but stopped immediately when she saw us like this. For a moment she looked back and forth between Marco and me before she screamed. "Marco out with you! Now!" she yelled at him and he looked at her slightly irritated. Marco ignored her statement and came up to me. I watched him closely because the closer he came, the more uncomfortable it became. He let his blue flames appear in his hand and put them on my upper arm. It was an unusual but beautiful feeling when his flames touched my skin. They were not hot but slightly cold. When he had finished his "treatment" he simply left his cabin without saying anything. 

"What was that now?" Haruta asked and came towards me. "Is everything okay?" she asked. "Yes, everything's okay, I was just a little surprised that he was in the room." I answered and took the things she gave me. "Thanks for the clothes." I thanked her. "No problem. But you shouldn't be so casual about it. Marco can't just come in when you're not wearing clothes. That's going too far." she got a little upset. "It's his room and he can come in whenever he wants. He couldn't know that I had already left the bathroom and was only walking around with a towel. It's my own fault for forgetting to take the things he gave me into the bathroom. And it wasn't that bad. The most important thing was covered." I told her. "You're really too relaxed. I would have slapped him and kicked him out if I were you. Or is it true that Izou and Thatch suspect you're in love with our little bird?" Haruta wanted to know, but I kept quiet. "You're blushing, I think that's the answer." she laughed. "Get dressed and I'll wait for you outside the door so we can go on deck together. Father would like to talk to you." she said and then went outside. After Haruta was out I took a deep breath. What did Whitebeard want to talk to me about? Did it have something to do with my origin and how they did find me? I grabbed a pair of shorts and a simple top from the stuff Haruta had brought me and put on the shirt Marco had given me. Once again I went into the bathroom because I had left my hair tie there and tied my hair together and went out to Haruta.

Marco POV

When I left my cabin I leaned against the wall next to the door. What had I done there yesterday? The bruise on her upper arm had shocked me. Had I really lost control so much that I had even hurt her? She had not hurt either of us and yet I had overreacted so much. Why can't I turn it off? All because of that thing that happened so many years ago. After a short time Haruta came out and looked at me slightly angry. "Are you crazy? You can't just stay in the room when she's got nothing on! Even if it's your room it's going too far!" she hissed at me. I ignored her. I knew that I should have gone out again right away but for some reason the sight of her had captivated me. I could understand Haruta's reaction, but that made it even more mysterious. Shouldn't Tiara have reacted more like Haruta and kicked me out instead of just looking at me? Why did she react like that? But the question which occupied me the most was why she reacted so calmly to my devil fruit powers. To treat her arm I had used my blue flames on her but she didn't ask any questions about what I was doing and didn't back off. It was much more as if she relaxed as soon as the flames touched her skin. So far everyone had only retreated when they saw my flames, as flames are usually considered dangerous. Tiara seemed to sense or know that my flames would not cause her any pain like Ace flames would. Who was she? Why did I worry about her so much? When my door opened again, it tore me away from my thoughts. Tiara came out and looked at Haruta and me questioningly for a moment. "Come on." Haruta said and reached for Tiara's hand. "Stop!" I said. "What are you doing? Tiara is coming with me. You can do something with her afterwards." I said and wanted to take Tiara to the infirmary so I could check if she was fit again. Besides my position as vice and commander of the first division I was also a doctor myself. Yesterday I really didn't like that Enzo threw me out like Ace and Thatch. Enzo, whom we all called just Doc, was our ship's doctor and the one who takes care of any injuries or illnesses so that these tasks don't come up to me as I had enough to do as it was. It wasn't that I didn't trust his judgement but with Tiara I just wanted to see for myself that everything was fine again. 

"Rejected! Father's order was to bring Tiara to him after we found her." Haruta informed me. Tiara looked at Haruta slightly confused and I didn't understand immediately what she meant by 'when they found Tiara'. "What do you mean by that? Why found me? I wasn't gone." Tiara asked. Haruta looked at her slightly amused. "Do you know what kind of panic our little Ace caused when he woke up and you weren't in your bed or in the cabin? Father ordered us to look for you and then bring you to him. So we Izou, Thatch, Ace and I looked for you all over the ship but did not find you. Ace has gone crazy! Until Thatch arrived, he said he had found you and that you were lying in Marcos' arms and sleeping." she told us. Now I understood it. "With Marco I could just sleep more relaxed than with Ace in the room." was the only thing that Tiara said and turned slightly red. This statement made me smile slightly and Haruta looked confused. "I'm taking her to Pops." I said and grabbed Tiara's hand and walked her towards the deck. Arriving there everyone looked at me again as strangely as when I came to get Haruta. "Haven't you got anything to do? Get back to work and stop staring around like idiots!" I shouted at everyone and except for the commanders, everyone got back to work. When we got to Pops, he was joined by Ace, Thatch, Izou, Namur and Jozu. Ace and Thatch grinned like crazy when they saw Tiara and me. "I see you're all right, kid." Pops said, looking at Tiara. He too had a slight grin on his face. What was wrong with everybody today? "I'm sorry for the trouble. It was not my intention to panic Ace." Tiara explained, and as I looked at her, I could tell she was trying to suppress a laugh. "Me panicking? Never!" complained Ace. "That's not what we heard." I said. "My kids leave Tiara and me alone for a minute, please, I want to talk to her." said Pops and everybody left. I wanted to leave too when I noticed that Tiara was pressing my hand tighter and I only noticed now that I was still holding her hand. "Can Marco please stay?" Tiara asked anxiously what Pop probably noticed as well. "If that's what you want." he replied and Tiara just nodded. "Where are you from?" Pops asked and I noticed Tiara tense up at the question. "I can't tell you that." she replied. "Can't or doesn't want to?" Pops wanted to know. Tiara seemed to be trying to figure out what to say. "You wouldn't believe me." she said. What wouldn't we believe her?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello 🤗 I know there hasn't been a new chapter for a long time but finally after rewriting it 4 times I finally finished the new chapter but also a very long one with over 2100 words. I hope you like it. Have fun reading it.

Tiara POV

"Where are you from?" Whitebeard asked me, and I tensed up a little. What could I say? Should I just tell them any island and lie to them, or should I tell them the truth even though they won't believe me? "I can't tell you that," I replied, not being sure what to do yet. "Can't or doesn't want to?" Whitebeard wanted to know. I thought about it for a moment, until I made up my mind. "You wouldn't believe me," I said. It occurred to me, of course, that they were both wondering about that statement. "Can we talk somewhere in secret where no one can hear us? Then I will tell Marco and you the whole truth." I asked Whitebeard. I was still holding Marco's hand. He gave me the strength I needed. I wasn't sure if they'd believe me, but I didn't want to lie to them. Most of all, I didn't want to lie to Marco. But there was also another reason. If I really want to stop that miserable bastard Teach from killing Thatch because of that damn dark fruit, I definitely needed help. I could never do it alone. "All right then, let's go to my cabin," said Whitebeard, and stood up. Together, we went to his cabin. He sat down on the chair by his desk. Marco and I sit on his bed. "Well, where are you from?" Whitebeard asked me again. "You can trust us," said Marco. He seemed to sense that I was still unsure about telling them really everything. "I know that what I'm about to tell you sounds very implausible, but it's the truth. After waking up I was surprised if this all was just a dream or if it was reality." I started to talk and took a short break. Whitebeard and Marco remained silent and gave me the time I needed. "I am not from around here. Not from the Grandline. Not from any of the blues. Not from this world. How I got here, I don't know. I 'd like to know that myself. I come from another world. But I know this world. In my world there is a series of books about this world," I explained to them and you could see that they doubted a little of what I was saying. "Interesting! Can you prove it?" Whitebeard wanted to know. So I nodded. "Yes, in my pocket is one of those books. "I always carry one of these books with me because I love the story. The story is about Ace's kid brother Ruffy and his adventures with his crew. The Whitebeard Pirates are in it too," I said. "That's how you knew Ace and Thatch's names," Marco said.

Marco POV

What Tiara told us was simply unbelievable. Was she really supposed to come from another world? At least it would explain everything. Explain why she knew the names of Ace and Thatch, the fact that she knew about Ace sleeping attacks and that she wasn't afraid of us even though we are pirates. But it would also explain her calm and composed reaction to my devil powers. She knows that they are no threat to her. "Yes, I know the names of all the commanders and which division they lead," Tiara explained. Pops still seemed to be reflecting on what he had just learned. "Can you tell me something only I would know?" Pops asked Tiara. She seemed to think and she looked at me. "Don't you worry, child. Marco can stay with us. You can tell by just looking at you that you need him around to tell me all this. You already trust him for a reason. Even after the little incident between you two, you haven't lost your trust in my son, I can tell." said Pops. "You're right, I really do trust Marco and would always do so. I know that Gol D. Roger offered to tell you the way to the One Piece during your conversation in Wano. But you declined that offer. Your family is more important to you than some legendary treasure." revealed Tiara and I was surprised. On the one hand about the fact that she trusts me although she doesn't really know me and openly admits it. On the other hand what she said about Pops. I wasn't surprised that Pops turned the offer down, but I was surprised that Roger had made him this offer. Pops never mentioned about it. "So what you said is really true. Only Roger and I know about this conversation and I haven't told anyone yet. What do you know?" Pops asked. Pops believed her and so did I. Normally I was always suspicious and wouldn't believe a story like that. But how else would she know about this conversation? "I know about Ruffy's past. I know about Ace's kid brother, his crewmates and a few other people. I also know Ace's past and his background. But I also know the future. If I'm not mistaken, I know roughly what's gonna happen in the next three or four years." Tiara answered Pops' question. "With this knowledge, it could be dangerous for you if the world government finds out." said Pops and seemed to think. "I am aware of this but I don't care. I will change the course of history as I know it. No matter what the consequences are for me. But I just have to prevent certain things from happening," Tiara clarified and I noticed that she became more and more tense. "What exactly are you talking about? To change the course of the future you know would mean that at some point in time you no longer know what will happen and what the consequences of your intervention will be." I wanted to know. Didn't she realize how dangerous this could be? What does she want to change? "I am aware that if I interfere with the course of events some things will change, but I cannot and will not allow Thatch to be killed if I am able to prevent it with my knowledge." Tiara said and I could feel her getting more tense. Thatch should be killed? "Who's gonna kill my son and how?" Pops asked, and you could tell by the tone of his voice this information was upsetting him. But he tried not to show it so strongly so as not to make it more difficult for Tiara.

Whitebeard POV

Tiara was really interesting. Someone from another world who has a lot of information about our world and about certain people. If the marine or world government finds out about her, her life is in danger. I like that she trusts Marco so much and admits this without hesitation. In her presence Marco seems to be able to forget what happened 10 years ago. Maybe she could finally help him to forget everything. Just that he let her sleep at his place is like a miracle. It seems as if her proximity is good for him. Never before has Marco overslept as he did today. Normally he is always the first to wake up. So she has a small influence on him after only one day. Even though I was so deep in thought I kept listening to her. But when I heard her say that someone was going to kill one of my sons, it made me angry. Who would dare? I had to know. "Who is going to kill my son and how?" I asked her and tried to remain as calm as possible. You could see that she had a hard time telling us about it. "It all begins with Thatch finding a devil's fruit. To be exact, it will be the Yami Yami no mi, the Dark Fruit. I don't know exactly when this will happen because it was never mentioned." she started talking and stopped. I remained silent because I didn't want to interrupt her and Marco also remained silent and just watched her very closely. "It will happen in a stormy night. Thatch is standing at the railing with the fruit in his hand, thinking about whether to eat it or not. Someone approaches him, but he doesn't notice. This person had been after the fruit for a long time. He stabs Thatch, takes the fruit and flees. Thatch will not survive because he is found too late." she continued with her story. A few tears ran down her cheek. But it was obvious that she was not yet finished with her story. "The traitor is Marshal D. Teach, or as he calls himself Blackbeard," she said with a distinct hatred in her voice. One of my own sons is to do this?

Marco POV

I couldn't believe Teach, one of our crew was supposed to be the one to kill Thatch? Could that be true? It was always the case that I did not trust Teach as much as all the others because my phoenix becomes more and more alert as soon as Teach is around, which he doesn't do with anyone else, but should we really have been so wrong and never have seen his true self. Does my phoenix sense the danger that Teach poses? Somewhere I didn't want to believe that someone on the crew would betray us and even kill Thatch, but on the other hand, her whole body language showed that what she was saying was the truth. But before Pops or I could say anything, she kept talking. "Ace, despite what you tell him, will go after Teach to avenge Thatch's death. Unfortunately, Ace is going to lose the fight against Teach. Teach will then hand Ace over to the Marines to become one of the Seven Warlords where there will be a free place at that time. The Marines then announces the public execution of Ace at Marine Ford. It comes to war between the Marines and you, the Whitebeard Pirates along with your allies. Ruffy will also appear in Marine Ford to save his big brother. With his help you succeed in freeing Ace from the scaffold. But Ace is killed by Akainu. Ace protects his little brother who Akainu wanted to kill when he was too exhausted. Ace dies in the arms of his little brother," she said and became increasingly restless. Pops just listened to her calmly. It was hard for him but he also saw how much Tiara had to struggle with telling us all this. I wanted to stop her from telling any more but I wanted to know what was going to happen. "After Ace died, it will also happen that you, Whitebeard, will not survive the fight. I don't want any of that to happen! I don't want Thatch, Ace and you to die. I don't want Marco to lose the people that matter most to him. And I don't want to see the look of loss in Marco's eyes two years after the war." she added, apparently unable to calm down. It was strange but somehow I knew that Tiara would not calm down easily and that if I let her feel that someone was there for her, that she was not alone, it would help her. I pulled Tiara to me, on my lap and held her tightly in my arms. She was not scared and did not try to get away from me. She just let it happen. I was aware that Pops was watching my actions closely, but I didn't mind. Slowly my flames appeared without me wanting them to and again my flames seemed to calm Tiara down until she finally fell asleep in my arms from exhaustion. None of this was allowed to happen. One thing was clear that everything was the truth. This was not a lie! I do not want to lose Pops or Thatch or Ace this way. But why does she want to change everything for me? How can I mean so much to her? Why me? "Marco, please take her to bed and stay with her. She needs you near her now. We'll talk about it later." Pops said, tearing me away from my thoughts. You could tell he was worried, but also angry and shocked. I did what Pops told me to do and went to my cabin Tiara in my arms, put her in my bed and lay down with her. I could not and would not leave her alone now. Still, I asked myself a question. Why did Tiara have such an effect on me after such a short time? 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody 🤗 Just a little chapter from the point of view of Izou. I hope you enjoy it. Have fun reading it!

Izou POV

"Why can Marco be there and we can't? It's so unfair!" Ace got upset. We stood at the railing and watched as Pops, Marco and Tiara walked towards Pops cabin. "Because she loves him!" said Haruta and had this one look that revealed that she knew something we didn't, or rather didn't know yet. "Tell me, what do you know?" Thatch wanted to know. "Nothing!" said Haruta. "It's not that she told me, but her behavior, suggests that she does." she added. "What do you mean?" Vista wanted to know who was standing with us. "When Marco came on deck to get me, it was because Tiara, who was in the shower, needed some new clothes, which I got for her. What exactly happened while I was in my cabin I don't know but when I entered Marco's cabin, Tiara was standing in front of Marco just wrapped in a towel. They just looked at each other. I shouted at Marco to leave the room and when he was outside Tiara told me why she didn't throw him out. But she only said that it was his cabin and everything important was covered by the towel. Since I knew that Thatch and Izou thought that Tiara was in love with Marco, I mentioned that and she blushed," Haruta told us what she had observed. It was all a bit strange. But not only what Haruta had just told us but the whole situation between Marco and Tiara. How does she manage that Marco lets her get so close to him. The incident is now 10 years ago and Marco has never let a woman get as close to him as he allows it with Tiara. He lets her sleep with him, comes hand in hand with her on deck and doesn't even seem to have a problem with it. What was her secret? How could she do all this in just one day while we have been trying for years to get him to get close to someone again?

"It's taking me too long. I'm gonna go to Pops." Thatch said after a while, tearing me away from my thoughts. "Stop, you know how Pops hates it when you barge into important conversations." I tried to stop him, but he just took off anyway, so I followed him. "Those two need to eat! Especially Tiara after last night's incident. Neither of them had been to breakfast so I'm going to drag them into the galley myself," said Thatch, so it was clear that nobody could stop him now anyway. As our chef cook he didn't like to see anyone skipping meals and he was right that Tiara really should eat something. After all, none of us knew how long she had been on this island and how long she had to go without proper food. But when we arrived in Pop's cabin we saw that Marco and Tiara were no longer with him. "What can I do for you two?" Pops wanted to know, but seemed a little distracted. "Where are they? They need to eat," Thatch answered the question. "Marco took Tiara to her room. She wasn't feeling too well after the conversation," Pops told us. "But you're right. Why don't you get them something to eat?" Pops asked Thatch and he immediately went to the kitchen. I stayed a little longer. "Are you alright? You seem distracted," I asked. "It's okay, son. I'm just preoccupied with something that Tiara just told me. I will let you know later." he said and asked me to leave him alone a little while because he had to think about something.

What had she told him? But I still wanted to know how she had managed to get so close to Marco, so I decided to look for her and just ask her as far as she was better. But when I arrived in the guest cabin it was empty! Where was it? Pops said that he asked Marco to bring Tiara to her bed. "Hey where is she?" Thatch suddenly asked. "Good question, next question!" I just said. "When I got here, she wasn't here," I told him. "Not again! Why do we have to keep looking for her?" Thatch said and went back out into the hall. "Where are you going?" I asked him. "Well, I'm going back to where she was the last time. I'm going to our pineapple!" Thatch smiled. Right. Why didn't I think of it on my own that she was back with Marco? Thatch entered Marco's cabin without knocking, which for sure will get a punishment later. They were both in his bed. Tiara seemed to be asleep and Marco was reading a book. When he noticed us he looked at us with a sinister look. "When will you learn to knock first?" he wanted to know and spoke softly so as not to wake Tiara. "You missed breakfast! Pops said I should bring you something," Thatch said, simply ignoring Marco's question. "Just put it on the table," Marco said. "Why is she in your bed? We were wondering where she was. Didn't Pops told you to bring her to her cabin?" I asked him. "I just didn't want to leave her alone after what we she had told us," he said. It just made me wonder even more. After all they weren't just lying in his bed next to each other. She lay in his arms, her head lay on his chest. They looked more like a couple. "Why do you let her get so close to you? That's so untypical for you!" I asked him finally because I finally wanted an answer to this question.


	11. Chapter 11

Marco POV

"Why do you let her get so close? This is so unlike you!" Izou asked me. I was extremely upset by this question, but I tried to stay calm. "Do you think I should have left her alone after she broke down in tears?" I asked him. "I don't mean that and you know it!" Izou replied a little louder. Yes, I knew what he meant and it annoyed me. The last years they tried to set me up with some chicks and even if it was just for one night but I never wanted that! "Leave now!" I just said, because I didn't feel like talking about it now. Izou didn't seem happy with it, but luckily Thatch pulled him out. When will they leave me alone with this subject? Don't they understand that I just don't want to think or talk about it anymore? Yes Izou was right that it was untypical to let someone get so close to me after such a short time but with Tiara it was different. What was different I couldn't say myself. I would also like to know why I let her sleep in my bed, why I take her in my arms and why I have that feeling that I did not want to leave her alone and want protect her.

A faint "Are you okay?" ripped me out of my thoughts. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I wanted to know from her. Tiara just stayed in my arms and I actually kind of liked it. "I'm okay. It was just different this time. Up to now I thought you were all just fictional characters but you are not anymore and that is why I was more upset than I thought" she replied. I hadn't really thought about that yet. Now that she is with us, the knowledge that certain people are dying, or better, being killed, must be hard for her. "I wanted to know if you were okay because of what I told you. After all, you learned that three people you care about will die soon if we don't change the course of events." Tiara added. "It was a strange feeling to hear all this and it's hard to know that it was all triggered by someone on the crew." I started and stopped. "We should eat something first. Thatch brought us something earlier on Pop's order," I just changed the subject. I really didn't want to think about Teach and his betrayal anymore. "Now that you bring it up, I'm really a little hungry." Tiara laughed and I was glad that she took my abrupt change of subject so lightly and didn't ask for more. We both got up and went to the little couch that was standing in my room and ate first.

Tiara POV

After we had finished our very late breakfast we brought the things together in the kitchen and then went out on deck. Though Marco said I didn't have to help him, I wanted to help and the second reason why I wanted to go was to remember the way. Here everything looked the same and to be able to orientate yourself a little would be helpful. While Marco went to Whitebeard as soon as we reached the deck I sat down at the railing to draw a little bit. Before that we had taken my bag out of the guest cabin. I didn't want someone to find the One Piece Manga in my bag by chance. I trusted the commanders, it wouldn't be bad if they saw the manga but if Teach was the one, for example, it would look completely different. 

While I was thinking about who or what I should draw I noticed that Thatch and Izou were watching me. It didn't really bother me, I just found it a bit strange. So I got up and went to see them. "Do I have something on my face or why are you watching me so closely?" I asked them. "Oh, and Thatch, thanks for the late breakfast," I added. "Please don't mention it. But to answer your question, it's just a little strange seeing you without our pineapple." Thatch laughed and I looked at him angrily. "Stop that!" I said, slightly annoyed to him. I hated it when people made fun of Marco. "Oh, come on, so far you've been with him every time we've looked for you," he said. "I think our girl here has a problem with the way you just called Marco," Izou said and I nodded my head. "Oh come on, that's funny." Thatch laughed. "No, it's not." I said, I was about to leave, but Izou was holding my wrist. "Why does it bother you so much?" Izou wanted to know. "I just don't like it. I can't really explain why." I replied. "Do you love Marco?" Thatch suddenly asked. "W-what? H-how?" I just got out and blushed. "That sounds like a yes," he laughed. "Shut up," Izou said to Thatch and walked a little bit aside with me. 

"How did you get Marco to let you get so close to him?" Izou wanted to know from me but I didn't know what he meant. "What do you mean?", I asked him. "You know, it's not like Marco to let someone get so close, especially so fast. He even let you sleep at his place and allowed you to be in his arms. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind if you get close. On the contrary, it's even nice to see that Marco lets a woman get closer to him and doesn't reject her like he did the last years. I am only interested in how you did it," he told me and I was a little overwhelmed with the situation. Should that be true? But Izou had no reason to lie to me. "I didn't do anything. I just feel very comfortable with him. With Marco I can just let myself go, relax and he manages to suppress my nightmares," I started to tell and stopped. Again I had mentioned the nightmares without actually wanting to. "What nightmares?" Izou asked and looked at me a bit worried. "Never mind. Please forget it." I told him. "It does matter! It's the nightmares that made you take those pills, isn't it?" he asked. "Please, Izou, I don't want to talk about this!" I said louder. It was too much for me. I didn't want to talk about those nightmares, those terrible memories. "What's going on?" Marco wanted to know who was suddenly behind me. 


End file.
